UN's Sustainable Development Goals

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Landsvirkjun is committed to three of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals

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Landsvirkjun committed to upholding three of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals at the beginning of 2017: Goal 5 on Gender Equality, Goal 13 on Climate Action and Goal 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy.

Landsvirkjun hosted an open meeting on social responsibility at Hotel Nattura. Hörður Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun gave a presentation on Goal 13 on Climate Action and the Company’s objectives. Ragnhildur Arnljótsdóttir, Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, gave a presentation on all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Sigurður Ingi Friðleifsson, Manager of the Energy Agency at the National Energy Authority gave a presentation on Goal 7, on Affordable and Clean Energy.

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Landsvirkjun attaches great importance to the sustainable development of energy in harmony with the environment and society. Support for the Global Goals is in line with Landsvirkjun's focus on corporate social responsibility and support for the UN Global Compact.

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Gender equality

Sustainable Development Goal 5

Success was achieved on gender equality issues with regard to employee wages. Landsvirkjun was also awarded the Gold Standard for Wage Equality by PWC for the third time. Landsvirkjun achieved one of its main goals and the proportion of female managers exceeded 30% this year during the year.

A group of female Landsvirkjun employees began discussing the status of women within the Company at the beginning of 2017. Efforts have been made to balance the gender gap but these changes have been much slower than initially hoped. The issue of gender equality was therefore discussed in a variety of ways and the CEO of Landsvirkjun subsequently announced that he would accept the position of Chairman on the gender equality committee, until satisfactory results were achieved.

A report on the status of women in the Icelandic energy sector was published in May by the Women in Energy Association. The report showed that women have less influence within the field than men.

Preperation of action plan

The debate on gender equality called for action. External advisors were asked to assess the situation and to implement any relevant changes to ensure more gender equality within Landsvirkjun. The company Capacent was consulted to assess Landsvirkjun's corporate culture with regard to gender equality. Visits were made to all operational areas and factors relating to culture, processes, facilities, housing, etc. were assessed. Various interviews were also conducted with managers and employees. The results of the assessment were presented to the Executive Board in August, 2017.

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Employees from all Company areas were invited to Reykjavik to attend Landsvirkjun's Autumn Meeting in early November. All employees participated in working groups, focusing on gender equality and discussing the many aspects of the issue. The results of Capacent's analysis were introduced to employees and integrated into the discussion. A representative from each group subsequently gave an overview of what had been discussed and ideas for relevant projects were put forward. An action plan was subsequently further developed as a follow-up measure.

Implementaion of the action plan

The implementation of the action plan will be carried out in the beginning of 2018 using Capacent’s Equality Indicators as a guideline. These indicators emphasise the need for progress on gender equality in the following categories: Culture, communication and working environment, policy and organization, organizational chart, wages and role models. Gender equality goals will be set according to the Equality indicators in all Landsvirkjun's operational areas and managers will be responsible for the development of gender equality within their own area.

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Affordable and Clean Energy

Sustainable Development Goal 7

A conference was held in New York in May 2017 by SEforALL (Sustainable Energy for All) which is a United Nations organization established after the December 2015 climate summit in Paris. The aim of the Association is to ensure access to energy, to double the share of renewable energy in energy production worldwide and to double the progress of energy efficiency by 2030. Ragna Árnadóttir, deputy CEO of Landsvirkjun, participated in the panel discussions, where she introduced renewable energy production in Iceland, energy exchange during the last few decades and the challenges faced by Icelanders in energy and climate issues.

A People-Centred Accelerator was subsequently designed to support gender equality, community participation and the promotion of women within the global energy sector. Landsvirkjun is one of the founders of the Accelerator and the Company hosted a workshop at Krafla Station (as part of the development of the accelerator), in June, where 40 participants gathered from around the world. Among the guests was Rachel Kyte, CEO of SEforALL.

More Information on the SEforAll initiative and the Accelerator can be accessed on the organisation’s website: http://www.se4all.org/

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Climate Action

Sustainable Development Goal 13

Landsvirkjun published its climate targets publicly before the climate summit in Paris, in 2015. The main target is carbon-free operations, before 2030. The action plan for this target is being systematically followed to ensure success. Further carbon binding measures will be introduced including the increased use of electric vehicles and reduction of unrecyclable waste. Landsvirkjun is working alongside the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland (SCSI) and the Icelandic Forest Service on carbon offset projects. Landsvirkjun is also working in cooperation with Kolviður to offset employee travel, equipment, waste, etc.

Landsvirkjun submitted a report on the Company’s climate action, for the second time, to the CDP.